THAT IT’S CHAOTIC DISASTER. I’M SURE MY NEXT GUEST DOESN’T
QUITE SHARE THAT VIEW.
WE HAVE REPUBLICAN SENATOR TIM
SCOTT OF THE BEAUTIFUL STATE OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, HIS BOOK
"OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS" IS OUT AND
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT FOR
ANYBODY WHO LOOKS AT BEING ON
THE THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE
TRACKS.
TRACKS. >> HOPE YOU’RE DOING WELL.
NEIL: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THESE
OBAMA COMMENTS?
OBAMA COMMENTS? OBVIOUSLY, THE CONVERSATIONS ON
THE PHONE CALL PICKED UP THAT HE
IS ECHOING SOMETHING WE’VE HEARD
FROM OTHERS, THAT AT LEAST
DEMOCRATS WHO SAY THE
ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE HAS
BEEN WEAK HERE.
NOW, NOT ALL DEMOCRATS BECAUSE
OTHERS, LIKE THE CALIFORNIA
GOVERNOR TALKED ABOUT HOW THE
PRESIDENT HAS DELIVERED FOR HIS
STATE, BUT THIS IS GOING TO BE A
THEME, NO DOUBT, THAT’S GOING TO
COME UP IN THE DR. FAUCI
TESTIMONY WITH SOME OF YOUR
DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES AND MAYBE
SOME OF YOUR REPUBLICAN ONES.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> NO DOUBT.
I’D SAY THAT THE FORMER
PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS WERE
UNHELPFUL, UNNECESSARY AND
UNFORTUNATE.
UNFORTUNATE. THE TRUTH IS WHEN YOU’RE IN THE
MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC, A GLOBAL
PANDEMIC THE WORLD HAS NEVER
SEEN BEFORE, LET’S FOCUS ON ALL
HANDS ON DECK, PUSHING IN THE
SAME DIRECTION.
SAME DIRECTION. WE NEED TO GET OUR ECONOMY BACK
OPEN AT THE SAME TIME WE NEED TO
CONTINUE TO FLATTEN THIS CURVE,
AND TO REINVEST IN TESTING,
TESTING, TESTING, AND IF THE
COMMENTS ARE NOT HEADED IN THAT
DIRECTION, THEN WE’RE HAVING A
CONVERSATION THAT SHOULD BE
DELAYED UNTIL AFTER WE ARE
BEYOND THIS PANDEMIC OR AT LEAST
ON THE TAIL END OF THE PANDEMIC,
WE’RE NOT THERE YET.
WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO BE
DONE.
DONE. WE NEED EVERY SINGLE MIND
FOCUSING HOW, A, KEEP AMERICANS
HEALTHY AND B, REIGNITE THIS
ECONOMY BECAUSE THAT FOR,
UNFORTUNATELY WILL NEED TO EVEN
MORE DEATHS THAN WE HAVE
PREDICTED SO FAR.
NEIL: YOU KNOW, YOU TALK ABOUT
THE ECONOMY, SENATOR, AND
HARKENING BACK TO YOUR BOOK,
"OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS", YOU TALK
ABOUT THE DISPARATES IN VARIOUS
GROUPS AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT
AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND THE
PROGRESS THAT HAD BEEN MADE,
DRAMATICALLY REDUCING THEIR
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES AND GETTING
MORE JOBS, AND REVERSING ITSELF
IN LIGHT OF THE SHUTDOWN AND THE
ECONOMY, IT’S UNAVOIDABLE, BUT
THOSE RATES ARE GOING UP--
THOSE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ARE
GOING UP ON A FASTER RATE THAN
THEY ARE FOR WHITES.
DOES THAT CONCERN YOU?
>> WELL, I THINK ANY
UNEMPLOYMENT CONCERNS ME.
I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY,
HISPANICS WERE AROUND 4.2% IN
FEBRUARY AND IN APRIL THEY’RE
ALMOST 20%.
ALMOST 20%. AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE AROUND
5.2, 5.3%, FEBRUARY EARLY MARCH
AND NOW WE’RE AT 18.7%, WHITES
HAVE SEEN THEIR NUMBERS DOUBLE
OR TRIPLE, AND ASIANS HAVE DONE
THE SAME THING.
LOWER, BUT YET, WE’RE STILL
SEEING THAT.
SEEING THAT. WHAT THAT TELLS IS A COUPLE OF
THINGS.
THINGS. NUMBER ONE, IF YOU’RE ON THE
LOWER END OF THE ECONOMIC TOTEM
POLE YOU TYPICALLY HAVE JOBS
THAT REQUIRE YOU TO GO TO WORK
AND SOME OF THOSE JOBS REQUIRES
YOU TO GO TO WORK IN THE RETAIL
SECTOR, THE RESTAURANT SECTOR
AND IN THE HOTEL SECTOR.
THOSE THREE HAVE BEEN
DEVASTATED.
DEVASTATED. IF WE’RE GOING TO GET THOSE
NUMBERS COMING BACK DOWN, WE’VE
GOT TO FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE TO GO INTO
RETAIL STORES, TO GO INTO
RESTAURANTS AND TO DO BUSINESS
TRAVEL AND LEISURE TRAVEL THAT
INCLUDES HOTELS.
INCLUDES HOTELS. SO I THINK THIS IS A TEMPORARY
SHIFT IN THE NUMBERS.
FOR US TO GET IT BACK, WE HAVE
TO REALIZE THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
IS DRIVEN BY CONFIDENCE.
IT’S AN INTANGIBLE THING THAT
BECOMES TANGIBLE IN OUR
ACTIVITIES.
ACTIVITIES. WE HAVEN’T SEEN THAT YET.
SO THE COUNTRY AND THE STATES
CAN REOPEN THE RESTAURANTS AND
THE HOTEL ROOMS AND THE RETAIL
OUTLETS, BUT UNLESS WE HAVE
CONFIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE, THEY WON’T SHOW UP WHICH
MEANS THAT THAT STAGNANT
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE THAT’S BEEN
AROUND FOR FIVE OR FIVE WEEKS
WILL NOT GET BETTER QUICKLY.
THAT’S BAD NEWS FOR THE ECONOMY.
IT’S WORSE NEWS FOR AMERICA’S
HEALTH AND WE’RE GOING TO HAVE
TO TACKLE THAT AND THOSE ARE
SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I WILL
DIRECT TOWARDS DR. FAUCI THE
SAME WAY I DID LAST WEEK WITH
DR. COLLINS.
DR. COLLINS. WE HAVE A CHANCE TO RESHAPE THIS
RECOVERY, RESHAPE THE HEALTH
CRISIS BY HAVING MORE TESTS ON
DEMAND AND BY USING SOME OF THE
LATEST TECHNOLOGIES, SOMETHING
CALLED CRISPER, WHICH IS AS
CLOSE TO A GENETIC KNIFE AS YOU
GET.
GET. WE’VE GOT SOME TOOLS AT OUR
DISPOSAL THAT I’M PRETTY EXCITED
ABOUT FROM A SCIENTIFIC
PERSPECTIVE THAT MAY ACTUALLY
HELP US TO FLATTEN THE CURVE AND
MAYBE EVEN SEE IT HAVE HAD A
SHARP DECLINE OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL WEEKS AS WE HAVE MORE
TESTS IN THE MARKETPLACE.
WE ARE HEADING IN THE RIGHT
DIRECTION AND GETTING THERE
FASTER THAN WE WERE JUST TWO OR
THREE WEEKS AGO.
NEIL: YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT
OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE CRITICIZED
THE PRESIDENT FOR BEING IN THIS
RUSH TO REOPEN THE ECONOMY
WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE CONCERNS
OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL.
THIS REPORT THAT THE WHITE HOUSE
BURIED A C.D.C. STUDY THAT
LOOKED AT WAYS TO GO ABOUT THIS
AND SOME OF THE THINGS AND
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES YOU
SHOULD TAKE.
SHOULD TAKE. I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU STAND ON
THAT, BUT AMONG SOME OF THE
RECOMMENDATIONS THEY WANTED WERE
A LOT MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN STUFF
WE’RE SEEING NOW.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT?
AND DO YOU THINK THAT THE
ADMINISTRATION IS RUSHING THIS?
>> I DON’T THINK THE
ADMINISTRATION IS RUSHING IT.
I THINK WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS TO
TAKE A LOOK AT OUR REIGNITING
THE ECONOMY FROM A PANORAMIC
PERSPECTIVE AND THEN GO FROM THE
MACRO TO THE MICRO.
SAID DIFFERENTLY, THERE ARE
PARTS OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
AND PLACES LIKE SOUTH AND NORTH
DAKOTA WHERE YOU HAVE LOW
DENSITY AND ALLOWS YOU TO HAVE A
FASTER OPENING AND FRANKLY, A
FASTER RECOVERY.
FASTER RECOVERY. MY FORMER COLLEAGUE GOVERNOR
NOME OF SOUTH DAKOTA HAS ALREADY
BEEN ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD
BECAUSE HER STATE HAS NOT BEEN
NEGATIVELY IMPACTED.
NEGATIVELY IMPACTED. STATES LIKE SOUTH CAROLINA,
WE’VE HAD SOME IMPACT, WE CAN
MOVE FORWARD AS LONG AS WE DO IT
WITH A METHODICAL REOPENING.
NO ONE IS RUSHING AT LEAST IN
SOUTH CAROLINA AND STATES I’VE
SATISFIEDED AROUND THE COUNTRY.